The Portland daily press., 1887-11-26
Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving morning was bright and au-
.tumnal in character, the mercury touching
400, and the streets were bare OF snow and as
dry as in September. The church services
were fairly well attended, there was much
horseback riding out of town, but very little
movement on the streets. Only four arrests
were recorded at the station. The balls Civ
en- by the Argonauts, and by Gilbert, the
dancing master, were well attended, and the
theatres were crowded
Rev. Mr.. Whitaker preached to the union
congregation at High street church. His
text was 1.-The Lord Reigneth let the earth
rejoice. Psalms XCVII, l." The idea ex-
pressed was that national blessings demand
national gratitude and thanksgiving. This
gratitude should be expressed by national
acts. We ought therefore to obey conscien-
tiously the authority which has called us to
observe this day as season of public thanks
giving. Such national acts call for the re-
spect and support of every true-minded
Christian citizen, since they uphold the
claims of our holy religion as essential to the
best welfare of the nation and illustrate
truth that ought never to be forgotten, that
the Lord reigneth.
At LUt rlIob L dIlou LIZ ILL
preached from Daniel ii %: "He knoweth
what is in the darkness, and the light dwell
leth with him. 1.-THE text sets forth, there
fore, the whole philosophy of the universe.
God alone knew what is in the darkness OF
the abyss, what might be, and what might
not be. With God alone dwelt light; the
power of creating beings gifted with the
power of sight; and the power Of calling
forth things to be seen, calling them out of
possibility into actually. Light might be
used as expressive of all intellectual action;
all thought was the perception of something,
capable of heing grasped in thought The
highest things perceived by the human soul
were persons, fellow men and higher beings;
therefore in personal relations was to be
found the purest and most abundant f0un-
tain of joy. In the love Of good men, OF
saints in the love of Christ, the king of
saints in the love of the Heavenly Father,
was source of eternal. never Increasing
blessedness and cause for eternal thanksgiv-
ing.
A Thanksgiving service was held at st.
Lawrence street church. 1t was conducted
by the pastor, Rev. Mr.. Wright.
At st. Lukes cathedral there was morning
prayer and holy communion.
A service for prayer and praise was held
at the Gospel Mission at $50 a. M, and at 8
D. m. In the evening Mr.. Pearson gave an
illustrated temperance lecture, MAN Elnside
Out"
A union Thanksgiving service was held in
the Deering Uniyersalist church. the Port
land churches joining. Rev. Mr. Shinn pre-
sided. Rev. Mr.. Blanchard spoke of the lib
erty brought by Christ. He showed how
God regards the individual. Judaism alone
recognized the nation, but Christ showed
that our Father notices even the sparrows
Rev. Mr. Crosley gave thanks for our social
and religious privileges and showed that
nation that could come forth strengthened
from civil war like ours would not be
broken assunder by Anarchists. He also
showed how much more our people enjoyed
in America, compared with the laboring
classes abroad, in the greater means at itheir
command. DR.. Weston offered prayer and
Mr. Shinn pronounced the benadictiOn.